NEW DELHI, 20 January 2007 — India’s Supreme Court has asked the government to explain the constitutional validity of the Haj Committee Act, 1959.
The court acted in response to a petition filed by businessman Prafull Goradia, who argued that the estimated 2.8 billion rupees spent by the government every year on Haj pilgrims was not only unconstitutional but was a severe drain on the tax payers’ money.
Goradia complained that the subsidy to the Muslim community to the exclusion of others like Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs violated the constitution as it discriminated between the citizens on the grounds of religion, caste and creed.
The petition cited Article 27 of the constitution, which says, “that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes, the proceeds of which are specifically appropriated for the payment of expenses for the promotion and maintenance of any particular religion or religious denomination.”
It argued that the special financial assistance to the Haj pilgrims from the taxpayers’ money was discriminatory, as no similar facilities were being extended to other communities.
The petition said other communities too had their own special places of worship located in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Vatican, Japan, Cambodia and elsewhere. However, no such financial assistance was being given to them. It also urged the court to direct the government to refund the taxpayers their money used all these years for funding the Haj pilgrimage.
A bench headed by Justice H.K. Sema issued the notice to the government on the petition. However, it directed that the matter be listed for hearing along with a petition filed earlier by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court restraining the government from subsidizing the pilgrimage.
